Hi - I'm developing a Winforms application using Visual Studio 2008 C# that uses a SQL compact 3.5 database on the client. The client will most likely be 32 bit XP or Vista machines. I'm using a standard Windows Installer project that creates an msi file and setup.exe
to install the app on a client machine. I'm new
to SQL compact so I haven't had
to distribute a client database like this before now. When I run the setup.exe (on new Windows XP 32 bit with SP2 and IE 7) it installs fine but when I run the app I get the error below:
Unable
to load DLL 'sqlceme35.dll'. The specified module could not be found
I spent a few hours searching this error already but all I can find are issues relating
to installing on 64 bit Windows, none relating
to normal 32 bit that I'm using. The install app copies the all the dependant files that it found into the specified install directory, including the System.Data.SqlServerCe.dll file (assembly version 3.5.1.0). The database file is in a directory called 'data' off the application directory, and the connection string for it is
<add name="Tickets.ieOutlet.Properties.Settings.TicketsLocalConnectionString" connectionString="Data Source=|DataDirectory|\data\TicketsLocal.sdf" providerName="Microsoft.SqlServerCe.Client.3.5" />
Some questions I have:
should the app be able
to find the dll if it's in the same directory i.e. local
to the app, or do I need
to install it in the GAC? (If so cam I use the Windows Installer
to install a dll in the GAC?)
is there anything else I need
to distribute with the app in order
to use a Sql Compact database?
there are other dlls also such as MS interop for exporting data
to Excel on the client. Do these need
to be installed in the GAC or will locating them in the application directory suffice?
TIA,
Ciaran.
